May 2009
by DateMe
Summary: Entries for the fanfiction section of the May contest. Entries listed in order of submission. Challenge: Picture Perfect, Pairing: SaiHina.
1. Photography and Art, Same Difference by

**Title:** Photography and Art, Same Difference  
**Author:** Gaahina  
**Rating:** PG (K+)  
**Challenge:** Picture Perfect  
**Pairing:** SaiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in Gaahina's personal profile.

A boy with black hair stared in wonder at the many pictures in the school's Art Festival. They were beautiful paintings, but they seemed so, how should he say this, unanimated. Lifeless. Dull. His own painting he had up on the wall, seemed to be in the same section. Uncaptivating.

He glared at the many people 'awe'ing and 'ooh'ing at the portraits. The oogling eyes made him want to throw up. Can they not see that they weren't that great!? Art was to be lifelike! Dancing! Capturing the hearts of people! Not just because it's 'pretty'. It was to capture hearts. Not the eyes. Never. The. Eyes.

The boy's dark coal eyes wandered to his photography section only to cast his eyes away from the horrid pictures. Those pictures were horrendous. Nobody seems to know that photography was NOT art! It's just a picture of something. To TRY to capture something's beauty and just pasting it on a wall. He did not want to take pictures, but in order to be in the Art's Festival, he had to do paintings, drawings, and _photography._

Art and Photography were NOT the same. NO! Art is where you captivate it's beauty with your own hand. Not a camera! You keep the life and beauty in a single painting or drawing.

In Photography, you take a simple picture. There is no hard work. There is NOTHING.

A small girl, atleast one head shorter than he is, walked up to his photography section. She was a simple spectator. He glared at her. She was disgusting. She did not know the true value of art. Then again, she seemed to be a painting herself. That long blue hair. Those beautiful lavender eyes. The healthy pale skin of hers! It captured his heart.

Or was it his eyes...?

The girl's name was Hinata Hyuuga. She was quiet and stayed in the very back in his class. The girl was of the Hyuuga clan. Heiress even. She liked art and photography. Even though her clan does not allow it. They only allow bussiness.

He hated yet loved her.

Then, everytime he tried to paint her, he messed up. It was but a picture. Not the real thing. She always moved and he wanted to glue her to a wall till he got the picture right. He wanted to get her movements right in every drawing. Her facial expressions. Her own heart.

Sai gave a small fake smile towards her as she walked towards him.

"Hello Miss Hyuuga."

The girl smiled back. Her smile radiant and adorning her face. It wasn't painted or placed. It was natural.

"H-Hello Sai...", the girl took a glance at his painting behind him. Her eyes widened as she took a step foreward. He watched her.

"Do you like it?", the boy asked in curiousity. It didn't catch her eyes probably. Could it be her heart?

She said nothing. The small Hyuuga rested a hand on the painting, as if trying to reach for the scene. It was only a cherry blossom tree with a doll sitting under it. Like the doll, the painting and photo's in the photography section were, to him,

Lifeless.

"It's...Beautiful...", Hinata muttered under her breathe. Sai faked smiled once again. It only captured her eyes.

He was wrong.

"It's better than the other paintings...You seemed to take up every angle and...the life from it... Just like your photography. It doesn't look as if you took the picture in different angles... You look like you wanted to capture it's life in that camera.", she said it as if she wanted to argue with his mind.

Hinata looked at Sai and tilted her head cutely. Sai was lost for words. He frowned and looked away.

"Thanks..."

Hinata rested her hand back on the painting.

"I know you don't like photography Sai-san....But.."

Sai listened tentively. He wanted to hear her soft voice and at the same time what she had to say.

"Photography lasts longer than paintings... They capture the radiance of things..."

Sai glared at her and looked away. "I..understand...", when instead, he thought she was plain stupid.

Hinata smiled softly and nervously. She walked towards the exit. "Goodbye Sai... Keep up the good work..."

"You too..", he muttered.

Minutes have gone by before he picked up his camera. It was one of those old ones from back then. But still works rather well.

"Lasts longer huh...?", he chuckled slightly. "Yeah...right..."

Sai noticed Hinata walking towards the bus stop through the window. Her face sideways from him. He raised the camera and clicked a single button.

Flash.

The photo slid out from the machinery's mouth. The black-haired boy took the photo with two fingers carefully.

He stared at it.

"But it does capture the radiance of things.... And beauty..."

The picture showed a smiling Hinata walking towards her bus stop. Her face sideways, her eyes opened slightly showing creamy lavender orbs.

For once, he thought that this was the first photo to capture beauty and look lively.

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in Gaahina's personal profile.


	2. Finding Inspiration by BlueRomance

**Title:** Finding Inspiration  
**Author:** BlueRomance (ImWiththeEmo on dA)  
**Rating:** PG ( K+ )  
**Challenge:** Picture Perfect  
**Pairing:** SaiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on BlueRomance's personal profile.

Sai stared at the blank canvas in front of him.

He had been there, in the forest ground for more than half a day, trying to find inspiration. There was no such luck. He had raised his brush a few times before, but the picture just won't sink in. There just wasn't anything interesting for him to draw. There was just no inspiration.

With a sigh, the young artistic talent opened felt for the sketchbook he kept with him always. His eyes rested on the page where it had only been recently filled.

There, a drawing of Naruto and Sakura was to be seen. Both had their eyes closed in childish bliss as they called out to him. A small genuine smile graced Sai's lips. A thought suddenly flooded his mind. Friends, family, loved ones, bonds… were they source of inspiration?

Sai sat there, his eyes just staring blankly at the sketchbook he still held, pondering silently at the thought.

_Eep_.

Sai turned around swiftly, his features molding into a glare as he turned to look at the face of his intruder. There, a few meters away from him, stood a blue-haired young lady. She wore a light lavender-colored jacket and blue pants. Her hair was long and reached her lower back. Her skin, was pale, he noted, but not as pale as his. It was pale in a soft sort kind of way. Not chalky, like his was. But he also saw her cheeks seemed to have been dipped in pink. He narrowed his eyes for a bit as he tried to remember all that he had seen.

His eyes widened for a fraction when he took note of her eyes. It was white, but within closer inspection, he noticed they had a slight lavender tinge to it. A softer color that seemed to match her perfectly. Her eyes looked as though they were really windows to the soul, as if they were inviting him to read her life story.

All in all, there was nothing really interesting about the girl that stood before him. But for some strange reason, he found his hands gripping his canvas and brush. He turned around to fully face her, and finally he was ready to paint.

--

"Um…" Hinata said as she tried to get away. She should have ran a while back, but found she could not under his scrutiny. When she saw him start to paint, she thought it was best to just go. The moment she moved though, she heard him call out to her, his voice sharp as the tip of a kunai.

"Do not move."

HInata's eyes widened when realization began to dawn on her. He was painting her. She tried to get away again but stopped when she noticed his heated glare.

"I said, do not move."

Hinata gulped but decided to just follow this strange boy's orders. Hinata wasn't the type of person to anger anybody, and she wasn't about to start.

Minutes went by and the strange boy still continued his work. Hinata on the other hand had become rather comfortable with this strange scenario. As much as it was uncomfortable to just stand there with a complete stranger painting her, she found it exciting.

She took this time to just stare into the background, her mind becoming at ease as she looked at the forest behind the strange boy. The forest that held so much of her. It was her sanctuary, her safe haven. That was why she was quite surprised to see this boy here of all places. She had no idea there were also others who came to the forest.

When Hinata's thought drifted to the boy, she hadn't realized so had her eyes. As she stood there, she decided to take her turn to study him.

She found his something to fuss about. It was too short and neat from what she was used too. But she also found that it did suit him better if anybody else she knew had the same style. She noticed his style of clothing strange too. A tight-fitting shirt that ended just above his navel and black matching pants. She wondered if he ever got cold in that. Hinata also noticed the paleness of his skin. He was chalky-white, and she thought, if ever she saw him at night, the word ghost would have appeared an appropriate term.

But what peaked her curiosity the most was his eyes. She noticed it as he took furtive glances at her as he continued on with his painting. They looked as though they were empty. They were pitch-dark, and Hinata could not find a single trace of life within those dark orbs.

Hinata wondered what he could be thinking about.

"Done."

HInata was broken out of her trance as the wind carried his voice to her ears. She saw him nod at her and with a slight wave gestured her to approach. She did so, wanting to see what he had been doing. A part of her was quite sure it turned out ugly, seeing as though she was the subject of this particular piece. But another part of her was filled with hope that it would have been beautiful.

When she turned to look at the painting, a gasp came out of her mouth, and she grinned.

--

"You like it?" Sai asked her as he watched her grin. The girl turned to look at him her face filled with joy, "Yes. It's very beautiful." She commented. Sai just nodded. After all, all the things he made had its own sense of beauty.

They stood there. Staring at the painting of a young lady, her hair billowing behind her because of the breeze, her eyes filled with words unsaid, and a soft smile on her face as she felt herself at peace. The same smile that was in Hinata's face right now. She was at peace with a complete stranger.

"Thank you." She whispered. The mysterious painter looked at her, mildly surprised at what she had said. "What do you have to thank me for?" he asked. The girl just continued staring at the painting. Finally, she answered, "For making me look beautiful."

Sai didn't know what came over him but he raised his hand and cupped her cheek, gently forcing her to look at him. "There is nothing for you to thank me…" he said, "because you are truly beautiful." She smiled, and raised her hand as well, enveloping his with hers.

"Hinata." She said.

"Sai."

And he knew he'd never lose his inspiration again.


	3. Painting Portraits by kezia12345

**Title:** Painting Portraits  
**Author:** kezia12345  
**Rating:** PG (K+)  
**Challenge:** Picture Perfect  
**Pairing:** SaiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted in kezia12345's personal DeviantArt profile.

SaiHina: Painting Portraits

The young girl happily rummaged through the cluttered draw of her father's old desk. Her eyes widened as she found something of interest. Carefully, she pulled out the old paper, and dusting it off she stared at the beautiful portrait of a man and woman waltzing gracefully.

"Daddy!" she called out. "What's this?" The man walked over and looked at the old picture.

--------------------------  
"Miss Hyuuga, may you please go and sit next to Sai, the young man with black hair, second row." And so it began. The girl walked over shyly, an old poetry book in hand and sat down quietly.

"Ohayō gozaimasu, Sai-san." She smiled at the boy. He looked up to meet her eyes and gave a rare smile.

"Ohayō, Hyuuga-san."

Sat next to each other for the semester, an odd relationship had begun.

"Hinata-san," The girl looked up to see Sai standing next to her while she sat the cafeteria table, two months after their first meeting.

"Oh, hello Sai-kun." She replied serenely.

"I have a favour to ask of you." Hinata cocked her head at this.

"I'm listening Sai-kun."

"May I… draw you?" This obviously caught the Hyuuga off guard.

"S-sure, Sai-kun. Do I have to do anything?"

"Not at all, you may continue eating. I just didn't want to seem, how would I say, creepy?" Hinata giggled at this.

"D-don't worry about it Sai-kun, of course you may draw me." She happily went back to eating her lunch as Sai took out his sketch book and pencil and started scratching away.

"Done," Sai announced 20 minutes later. Hinata looked up from her book to the boy. "Would you like to see it?" he asked politely. The girl nodded.

"Yes please Sai-kun." She answered. He flipped his book around to show her the picture, causing Hinata to gasp. It was a profile picture of her, sitting with her head resting in her hands like she had sat for a large portion of lunch. But instead of the cold plastic of the lunch room, she sat in a beautifully sketched wood of vivid plants and animals, wearing a wreath of flowers on top of her head.

"What do you think?"

"I-it's," she struggled out. "It's wonderful Sai, amazing!" she breathed out. "You draw beautifully."

"Well it is a picture of a beautiful girl." He smiled at her blush. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by the ring of the lunch bell. "Well, I guess I'm off to History. I'll see you later, Miss Hyuuga." He smiled again as he walked out, leaving the flustered and still blushing girl to pack up her stuff and scramble off.

"…a picture of a beautiful girl…" The words still made her pink as they replayed over and over in her mind as she walked into her class.

"…beautiful…"

----------------------------  
Over time, Sai grew to draw the pale eyed girl more and more, but the more her drew her, the less he showed he his drawings.

"I 'unno, maybe he's drawing you naked," the blonde commented offhandedly.

"I-INO-CHAN!" Hinata squealed, embarrassed.

"Come on, I'm just kidding." She laughed at the Hyuuga's deep blush. "Sai wouldn't do that," she assured. "…Probably," she added as an afterthought.

"INO!"

But as time went on she began to become more and more suspicious. She would try to sneak peeks at his work while he drew, but failed every time. And since he ALWAYS had his bag with him, stealing the book would be out of the question. One day, she just decided.

"Hinata-chan, would you mind if I drew you today?" Sai asked as per usual. But this time, Hinata stood up.

"Sai-kun, I'm not letting you draw me again until you let me see the pictures you've been drawing all this time." She said firmly. Sai gave her an odd glance she couldn't quite decipher.

"I'm sorry Hinata-san, I just remembered that I have another commitment today. I'll see you in class, alright?" He said, his normal smile much smaller now. And with that, he got up and left, though Hinata didn't try to stop him this time. She simply looked back down and continued her lunch.

----------------------------  
Hinata's mind was still buzzing that afternoon when she went to her locker after school to pick up and pack away her books. As she opened the door, a piece of paper with a note attached to it fell out. Confused, she picked up the paper and flipped it over, gasping at the picture. It was one of Sai's, an image of herself, dancing in a waltz in a sparkling lavender gown though a pale green field below a blue sky. Herself, dancing in the arms of Sai, dressed elegantly as herself. She smiled and hugged it to her chest after reading the beautiful penmanship of the note.

"…I love drawing you if only so I may hold you in my arms…"

-----------------------------------

The man smiled at his daughter as he remembered the origin of the portrait.

"There's a long and beautiful story behind this picture Ona-chan, though I think your mother would recall better than I would, eh, Hinata-chan?" he said, glancing across the room to his pale eyed wife. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw the picture.

"Yes Sai-kun, I remember that story full well."


	4. Double Dare by Venny9o6

**Title:** Double Dare  
**Author:** Venny9o6  
**Rating:** PG (K+)  
**Challenge:** Picture Perfect  
**Pairing:** SaiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted in Venny9o6's personal DeviantArt profile.

"He's such a jerk! Calling me ugly all the time for no reason... and with that stupid fake smile on his face to boot! Rrg!" Sakura grumbled while pacing back and forth across Ino's room.

"Wow. What a grease monkey," Tenten agreed dispassionately from her seat on the window sill where she was staring rather fixedly at an apple in her hand.

"M-maybe he's only saying that beca-cause he likes you...?" Hinata offered, ever the optimist. She was kneeling behind Ino, French braiding the girl's long blond locks.

Sakura stopped for a moment to stare at her friend as though she had said something quite atrocious, then snorted and began her pacing anew. This had been going on for at least 10 minutes by this point; the fuzzy yellow Tweety slippers on her feet threatened to burst at the seems from the abuse.

Now Ino, who was busy giving herself a perfect orange cream pedicure, was frankly beginning to get tired of it. "Sakura, I hate to say this, but if Sai thinks you're ugly then you're either gonna have to either get over yourself and move on, or be a normal girl for once and pamper yourself. It's probably because you always look so stressed and messy, like a boy or something."

The pinkette bristled indignantly before whirling around. "It's not just me, it's all girls! It's like he's gay! Although even a gay guy can recognize a pretty girl," she griped stubbornly, unwilling to let the subject rest. She was pissed, darn it, and she wouldn't be satisfied until all this pent up anger was released somehow.

Ino huffed. "I don't know what you're talking about, billboard brow, but if you recall Sai happened to tell me that I'm beautiful."

"Yeah, maybe to your face."

"What's that supposed to mean? That only my face is pretty?"

"It means," Sakura intoned darkly, "that Sai learned by me beating him to an unrecognizable stump that it's safer to tell a girl the opposite of what he really thinks when asked about her looks."

Ino's mouth fell open as her brows pulled downward incredulously. "That dirty lying bastard!"

Tenten was just taking a bite of her apple as the blond exclaimed, and she waved the fruit around in emphasis as she chewed. "Oh yea, what a crud muffin." In all honesty she'd never met the guy, and didn't really care much for this whole ordeal, but she knew that someone would confront her if she didn't say anything.

"He might ha-have a high standard for girls' l-looks because he grew up with, um... super models," Hinata said in an attempt to console her friends. She had just finished working on the braid and handed Ino a mirror to inspect herself.

"Oo! I look good! It's too bad Sai can't see it."

Sakura was staring off into space with a thoughtful frown, one hand on her small hip and the other caressing her chin. "You know, I think Hinata might have a point," she lamented. Everyone stared at her.

"She does?"

"I-I do?"

Crunch.

"Yeah! Think about it! If we disguise ourselves as boys and go to that sorry excuse for a boys only party that those bozos made up last minute as revenge for our girls only slumber party, then we could get Sai to tell us what kind of girl he likes! Then we'll know once and for all whether or not he's gay."

All was silent. Then, rather awkwardly, the sound of Tenten crunching down on her apple filled the room. Sakura was looking from one face to the next with her brows raised as she waited for a favorable response. Hinata blinked in surprise. "Th-that's not what I said at all..." she pointed out, but her voice was so quiet that it went unnoticed.

"Come on, what do you think? It'd be fun, eh?"

Tenten shifted slightly as she considered this. "It's crazy, but if you actually want to do something then count me in."

"Well count me out," Ino said immediately, rolling her eyes. "There's no way I'd be caught dead in some stinky boy party."

Sakura ignored her and looked on to her white eyed friend imploringly. "Hinata, you'll come, right?"

The girl in question glanced around with round, doe eyes, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights as she vigorously racked her brain for an excuse to not go. Truth be told, she was somewhat wary of boys in general. To be stuck in a whole house of them would be torture. "Um... I, uh... M-my father would never approve..." she mumbled pathetically.

"I guess that's true. Well you'd probably blow our cover anyway; even if you looked like a boy, you're femininity is just too hard to miss." Sakura sighed, a little disappointed.

"Yeah," Tenten agreed.

Hinata just sat there, trying to figure out whether she should be insulted or flattered. "...Oh."

The boys' party was held at Shino's house, simply because it was big and empty and everyone else's houses were far too cramped to fit eight teenage boys comfortably. Not to say that Shino himself knew anything about it, at least not until people randomly started inviting themselves in and acting like they owned the place, which was irking in itself.

"Hey, Shino! Got any chips or soda in this place?" Kiba called across the living room from his sprawled position on the love seat.

The Aburame was huddled in one corner behind a lamp table, brooding. "Get out."

"Ah!" Lee exclaimed. "Who is that beautiful purple beast staring back at me?!"

"That's Barney, you twit. Shino doesn't have any good channels on his TV so we have to watch this... ugh," Neji grumped, arms crossed over his chest as he slouched on the sofa, staring blankly at 'the tube'.

"Shikamaru, I'm hungry..."

"... Eh..."

Suddenly the front door burst open and slammed audibly against the adjacent wall. Everyone looked up to see Naruto standing in the doorway. "Hey everybody, guess what I brought!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"A plague," Shino replied, but everyone ignored him.

"Barbecue pork? I'm starving!"

"No, no! Better! I brought..." he paused for effect, but when it became apparent to him that nobody cared either way, he got to the point, "...a random stranger!" Everyone gawked, some rolling their eyes and some shaking their heads, as the blond ushered in a slightly short brown haired teen wearing a ball cap with his wavy brown hair spilling out the back in a ponytail, a pear of baggy black cargo pants, and a baggy green sweatshirt. His eyebrows had a funny way of spiking in every which direction, though his biker mustache was very clean shaven. "Everyone, meet Tenzen! I found him loafing around the streets outside, so I invited him in."

"Hey dudes," he greeted, nodding to an invisible beat as he waved to the crowd.

They eyed him strangely; something about the guy was just... weird. "He kinda looks like a girl," Sai commented from his seat on the couch. Yeah, that was it.

Tenzen made a face, then pointed a blunt finger at Neji, seemingly at random. "What about that fudger?"

"Hm. Good point."

Neji glared incredulously, left eye twitching profusely at this personal offense. He had officially determined that he had no real friends and his life up to this point had been utterly pointless.

So the party ensued with much noise and jokes and laughter and now two brooding teens. Tenzen found a place in front of the TV where most everybody else was, and Naruto began making rounds around the entire room, finding anything and everything he could use to bother people. Coincidentally, he was having the best luck with Shino.

"Hey bug eyes, what's up?"

"...Go... away..."

"So this one time at band camp..."

"Aagh!"

"Psst!"

Naruto paused to look at the window to his left, a little surprised to see none other than Sakura there, motioning to him to come over. "Eh? Sakura-chan? What are you doing –"

"Shhh! Just get over here," she whispered fiercely.

He quirked a brow as he gave her a dubious look, wondering what she could be doing there. Was she jealous because she wasn't allowed into the party? Or had he, by some miracle, finally fallen into the category of Can Not Have in Sakura's mind and suddenly become her greatest obsession of all time?! "Coming my love bird!" he crooned loudly, unknowingly pulling everyone's attention to himself, as he pranced over to the pinkette.

As soon as he was within range, Sakura grabbed him by the collar and yanked him right out the window into a nearby shrubbery, out of view of the room occupants. Many "Wham!"-s and "Bonk!"-s and other onomatopoeia ensued. The sound of a high pitched scream filled the air, and for a moment after that there was complete silence, until Naruto hopped back through the window with a self-satisfied grin and brushed himself off. When he saw that everyone was now watching him, he laughed sheepishly. "Boy, I sure taught her a lesson!"

"What... did you do to her?" Tenzen ventured, eyes wide, caught between being shocked and disturbed.

"I kissed her," Naruto replied easily, giving him a discrete wink.

Tenzen looked relieved, mouthing a silent "Oh" while turning away. But he suddenly caught Neji's gaze and noticed the skeptical look on his face, as if he were analyzing him. 'Uh oh! Better distract him before he figures it out!' Tenzen gave him a lascivious smile and leaned a little closer. "Hey there, handsome."

The effect was instant: Neji, utterly appalled, made an angry-fish face and hacked exaggeratedly. From that point on he absolutely refused to so much as glance Tenzen's way.

"Hey guys, lets play truth or dare!" Naruto exclaimed, hopping into the middle of the room. He walked over to the love seat where Kiba was sitting and waited, but when nothing happened he shoved the boy's legs off of the second cushion and sat down. Kiba stared at him.

"Yeah, let's play truth or dare!" Tenzen repeated just as enthusiastically.

"I dare you all to leave," Shino said from his dreary corner by the lamp.

"YOSH! I'll go first! I'll go first!" Lee shouted, jumping up and down exuberantly. "Okay, um... Shikamaru! Truth or dare?"

The Nara gave him a disgruntled look. "You're all so troublesome... Truth."

"Aw! That's no fun!" Lee whined. "But okay... Uh... Who's your daddy?"

"...What?"

"Never mind, I'll go," Kiba interjected, much to the green clad boy's disappointment. "Neji."

"Truth."

"You wuss!"

"Shut up! I know you just want revenge for Hinata-sama!"

Kiba glared, peeved at being found out. "Fine, be that way. When was the last time you got your hair done?"

Neji snorted and gave him an 'is that the best you can do?' look. "Two weeks ago." Laughter broke out throughout the room, and the Hyuuga prodigy, realizing that he was now the subject of another fem joke, didn't feel so smug anymore. "Naruto," he ground out.

"Dare. Give me your best shot you pussy." Many "Ooho ho"-s filled the room, signaling that a cock fight was about to begin.

Neji smirked evilly. "I dare you strip naked and run through the streets screaming the national anthem at the top of your lungs."

"Ooh! Buuurn!"

Naruto pursed his lips in an uncharacteristic show of disgust. 'How like a boy...' "Fine," he said, standing up. He walked over to the window and leaned out into the bushes, muttering "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" loud enough for everyone to hear. A groan was heard, followed by a berating whisper, a smack, a whine, a yelp, and finally the image of Naruto's "clone" stripping off his jumpsuit and running down the street yelling bloody murder.

Returning to his seat with a decidedly smug grin, and enjoying the way Neji seethed, Naruto prodded the dark haired boy beside him. "Sai. Pick your method of downfall."

Tenzen leaned over and whispered, "Pick dare, dude! It's manly!"

Wholly unfamiliar with this trivial game, yet still glad to be included, Sai shrugged. "Dare."

The azure and hazel gazes of Naruto and Tenzen met and the two shared an episode of creepy, maniacal laughter, to the confusion of everyone else. "Okay, Sai," the blond began with a tone of false sweetness. "I dare you to draw a picture of the prettiest girl in Konoha, title it 'Prettiest Girl In Konoha,' sign it, and give it to her in person."

Kiba laughed. "What the heck!"

"Um... Isn't that kind of breaking the rules? I mean that's more than one dare," Chouji pointed out thoughtfully.

"Whatever! Neji gave me a compound dare, so I feel it's within my right to do the same!"

Sai regarded his blond teammate with a puzzled expression. "Naruto, you're acting very strangely – more than usual anyway," he commented.

Naruto sweatdropped. "You know what, just for that I'm making it a double dare. Now if you back out you have to take your sorry pants off in front of everyone," he retorted, changing the subject.

"Why? Do you want to see my penis?"

"Shut up and draw!"

The next morning Sai walked out of his apartment with a large orange envelope tucked under his arm, making his way toward the training grounds. As he ventured down the bustling streets of Konoha, passing the houses of the boys from the party the night before, the boys caught sight of him passing by from their windows and went outside to follow.

For some reason nobody seemed to notice that Naruto came out of Sakura's house, or that the new guy, Tenzen, came out of Tenten's house. However, when they passed Naruto's house and the blond boy emerged to join the ever growing band, Naruto from the crowd stuffed him into a trash bag and tossed him into an empty ally.

When they reached the training grounds, two teenage girls came into view.

"Um, Ino... Didn't you say we were going to train?" the dark haired girl began hesitantly, watching her friend who was sitting atop a wooden pole, sorting through her beauty kit.

"This is training!" the blond insisted. "Every girl needs a lesson in make-up art at some point, and you, Hinata, are in serious need."

"But... I don't wear make-up."

"My point exactly."

When the two girls caught sight of the dark haired boy, followed closely by his entourage, they stopped and looked on curiously. Meanwhile, the boys in the crowd (plus "Naruto" and "Tenzen") were all wondering if Sai had actually been telling the truth about Ino when he called her beautiful. Ino herself wasn't sure what was going on, but had assumed that he was approaching her and inwardly became ecstatic. Could it really be?

Much to everyone's shock, Sai walked up to the two girls with a smile and handed the envelope to Hinata. She watched him wide-eyed as she accepted the gift, a little puzzled when he, without saying a word, promptly turned around and waded away through the sea of boys behind him. All eyes were on the petite Hyuuga heiress, some surprised, some thoughtful, and some (Ino) severely upset.

Swallowing down the lump in her throat that had formed in her nervousness, Hinata gingerly opened the package with shaking fingers. She pulled out a sheet of clean white paper, backed with violet card paper, depicting an ink sketch of herself in a small meadow full of various wildflowers. In the image she was wearing a simple sun dress rather than her normal attire, and her hand outstretched to a point where her gaze was also fixed on a small lark as it perched on her finger. She continued to stare at it in awe, a rosy blush rising to color her cheeks.

Everyone crowded around her at once, trying to get a better look at the item in her hands. There, at the top of the card piece, written neatly in silver gel ink, were the words 'Prettiest Girl In Konoha,' and in the bottom right hand corner was the unmistakable signature of Sai.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe you did that!" Naruto exclaimed with a proud grin as he patted the shoulder of his dark haired teammate, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye. A few hours had passed since the incident in the training grounds in which time team Kakashi had grouped together at the old bridge, waiting for their sensei to show up. "I mean, Hinata? She's kind of weird sometimes, but I guess that's perfect for you, eh?"

Sai quirked a brow in confusion. "You were the one who dared me to do it."

"Huh?" Naruto matched his expression, perplexed.

"Yeah, Naruto, you dared him to do it," said Sakura, eying the blond teen in a pointed manner.

He nodded slowly. "Oh... Right, sure."

"A-ano..." The three looked up to find a blushing, fidgeting Hinata standing at one end of the bridge, absently twiddling with the orange packet in her hands as though contemplating. If one was to guess by appearances, they would say she was very close to a nervous breakdown, which led to the question of what she was doing there.

"Hi, Hinata," Sakura greeted with a bright smile, hoping that her friendliness would help the girl feel a little more comfortable.

"Hey, Hinata-chan," Naruto followed suit, inwardly waiting for her to faint. Sai regarded her silently.

Hinata took a few hesitant steps forward, looking as though she might turn tail and run at any moment. Finally, pushing herself, she ran over to Sai and shoved the envelope into his hands before squeaking out a hurried "Thank you" and fleeing quickly down the street, out of sight. Sai blinked and looked down at the object in his hands.

Naruto and Sakura were both staring, mouths agape. "Is that the one you gave her?" Sakura wondered.

"She returned it?!" Naruto blurted. "Oh, man, that's harsh! I'm sorry." A few short seconds after that statement the blond all but burst out into fits of mad laughter at his friend's expense.

"Naruto, cut it out! This isn't funny!" Sakura berated through fighting off giggles herself.

As the two broke into a fight over who was being the worse friend and whether or not it was okay to laugh, Sai opened the envelope and pulled out the sheet inside. Naruto, controlled by his curiosity even when caught in a painful headlock by his freakishly strong crush, glanced over to see, only to stare in surprise. "Hey, isn't that..." he trailed off, pointing, and Sakura looked too.

In his hand was not in fact an ink sketch of a girl, but a watercolor painting of a small, gurgling stream. On the pebble shore stood a black clothed figure, body facing the wall of evergreen trees on the other side of the stream, while the figure craned his neck to glance over his shoulder at viewer. The shape of his dark hair and the structure of his face, although depicted with little detail, was without doubt meant to be Sai.

In the center bottom of the page in black ink was written 'Hinata H.' and at the top, in big, bold letters, was the title: Prettiest Boy In Konoha.

"Oh my..." Sakura breathed, absently loosening her grip enough for her victim to escape.

"Since when does Hinata paint?" Naruto questioned, gazing at the piece in utter astonishment. How could he have known the girl for all these years and never noticed something so crucial?

Sai turned to him with raised brows. "Since when does she not?" he responded unnecessarily.

"Well how did you find out?" Sakura asked, equally perplexed.

The dark haired boy gave a nonchalant shrug and smiled. "I don't know," was his honest answer. "I guess artists just have a way of finding each other."

FIN


End file.
